Valtteri Bottas: “I was not quite happy with the balance of the car”

Valtteri Bottas feels there is a lot of work to be done overnight in order to get to the front of the field after the Finn ended Friday practice with the third fastest time overall.

The Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team racer had ended the morning session around the Hungaroring down in fifth position, more than three-quarters of a second down on Daniel Ricciardo’s pacesetting time, but the afternoon session saw him finish just over two-tenths of a second down on the Australian.

Bottas admitted to struggling with the balance of his W08 throughout the day, and he knows it will be important for this imbalance to be solved ahead of final practice and the all-important qualifying session on Saturday, particularly as both Scuderia Ferrari and Red Bull Racing look strong in Hungary.

“We have some work to do,” said Bottas. “The three teams at the front seemed very close. I was not quite happy with the balance of the car today and I was especially struggling with the rear end.

“The temperatures are expected to rise tomorrow, which means that we really need to get the rear end of the car more stable. I think that will be the main area for us to focus on. It should be interesting tomorrow.”